Turbine ventilators are in widespread use for ventilation of homes, offices, and commercial and industrial structures. While turbine ventilators afford reasonably good ventilation, the use of fans in conjunction with turbine ventilators will increase the air flow through the ventilators, thus increasing effective ventilation. Efforts in the past to combine fans or blowers with turbine ventilators have met with only limited success. Because of noise and vibration which results from the combination of fans into turbine ventilator structures, such combinations are not often used. Usually the speed of rotation of turbine ventilators having fans is increased to the point where the turbine ventilators rapidly wear out, with resultant increase of noise and vibration. The amount of air drawn through a turbine ventilator by a fan disposed therein is less than might be expected, so therefore the efficiency of turbine ventilators combining fans in their structures is low. This invention attempts to solve the problem of combining fans or blowers with turbine ventilators to provide an efficient apparatus which is essentially noise free and vibration free, and which is efficient in operation.
According to the invention, fans or blowers are provided together with supports therefor, for use with turbine ventilators. The fan is located spaced from the entrance to the turbine ventilator instead of within the roof jack or base of the ventilator itself. Investigation has revealed that this location of the fan or blower provides for increased air flow through turbine ventilators without the accompanying distractions of noise or vibration. Efficient directed air flow through the ventilators is provided at low operating cost using this type of assembly. The invention provides for the installation of fans in conjunction with new or existing turbine ventilators, which may if desired be accomplished on a do-it-yourself basis, in simple yet efficient manner.
The apparatus provided by the invention permits a variety of forms of installation, so that the combination of a fan with a turbine ventilator may be readily accomplished regardless of the manner of installation of the turbine ventilator. The fan support apparatus includes three elongate elements, two of which are identical, which may be assembled in a variety of ways. The elongate elements may be provided in straight, unbent form, or two of the elements may be provided in bent form to comply with a certain type of installation, as will become more clear as the description of the invention proceeds. The supports may be bent as necessary to provide the desired type of assembly. The assembly may be supported from the rafters of a building, from a roof jack supporting a rotary ventilator, from a rotary ventilator itself, or from a roof, the latter assembly requiring the use of special brackets provided for that purpose.
A principal object of the invention is to provide methods and apparatus for combining fans or blowers with turbine ventilators. Another object of the invention is to provide such apparatus and methods which are adaptable to a variety of turbine ventilator installations. A still further object of the invention is to provide such apparatus and methods which are dependable, efficient, and economical.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention, reference being made to the accompanying drawings.